Blade for cotton-choppers.



J. H. STONE.

BLADE FOR COTTON CHOPPERS.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.6, 1913.

1,102,362. Patented July 7,1914.

Hull IE] 46 THE NORRIS PETERS CU" PHO'I'U-Lllnu. WASHING'i'ON, D, C,

.UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

JOSEPH H. STONE, OF OKEMAH, OKLAHOMA.

BLADE FOR COTTON-CHOPPERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

.latcnted July 7, 1914.

Original application filed March 25, 1913, Serial No. 756,809. Dividedand this application filed October 6, 1913. Serial No. 793,698.

b all whom, it may concern Be it known that I, Josnrn I'IENRY S'roNn,citizen of the United States, residing at Okemah, in the county of ()kfuskce and State of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and. usefulImprovements in Blades for Cotton-Choppers, of which the following is aspecification.

Thisv application is a division of an application filed by me March 25,1913, Serial No. 756,809.

The invention forming the subject-matter of the present application isan improvement in blades for cotton choppers, the object of theinvention being to provide a novel blade by which some of the plantswill be cut out so as to produce the necessary thinning and thestraggling roots, leaves, and stems of the plants left standing will becut away so that the said plants will. be properly pruned and theirdevelopment assured.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and consistsin certain novel features which will be first fully described and thenparticularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 a plan view of a cotton chopper embodying myimprovement; Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of one of theblade-carrying arms; Fig. 3 is a detail perspective View of one of theblades.

The cotton chopper of my invention com prises a frame 1 which ispreferably of the U-shaped form shown and is hung loosely at its rearend upon anaxle 2 actuated by ground wheels 3. At the front end of theframe is provided steering wheels 1 and be tween the sides of the framean inner bearing frame is hung upon the axle and provides a longitudinalbearing for the chopper shaft 5 which is equipped with a flywheel 6 atits front end. The chopper shaft is actuated from the axle by a gearwheel 7 and pinion 8 and plays at its front end in a guide 9, all ofwhich is fully set forth in my aforesaid application, Serial No.756,809. A crank shaft 10 and lever 11 is provided so that the choppershaft may be raised or lowered to cut through the plants at any de sireddepth.

At points in rear of the bearing or guide 9, I mount upon the choppershaft bladecarrying arms 12 which extend radially from the shaft and areslotted or notched, as shown at 13, in their ends to receive the ends ofthe stems or shanks of the blades. The blade-carrying arms are providedwith collars or tulnilar offsets 1+1; upon their opposite sides throughwhich set-screws are in sertcd to secure the arms to the shaft at thedesired points. The arms may thus be ad justed to the axle of the shaftso that the distance between the plants left standing may be regulated.The blades consist of a stem or shank 15, the inner end of which isinserted in the slot or notch 13 of the bladecarrying arm and is securedtherein by a bolt or rivet 16 inserted transversely therethrough, aswill be readily understood. The outer end of the stem or shank isbifurcated and the branches or arms thereby formed are bent in oppositedirections from the stem, as shown at 17 and 18 and most clearly in Fig.3. The advance edges of these members 17 and .18, considered withreference to the direction of rotation, are beveled and sharpened sothat they will form cutting edges, as will be readily understood, andthe extremity of the member 18 is turned slightly upward and sharpened,as shown at 19, so as to form a pruning lip.

It will be readily noted that the cutters are arranged in pairs and theshanks of the same are intended to pass at opposite sides of the plantswhich are to be retained. The rotation of the chopper shaft will beimparted directly to the blade-carrying arms and the blades so that themembers 17 and 18 will pass through the ground and cut through the rootsof the plants so that, as the machine progresses over the field, some ofthe plants will be cut out at regular intervals. The lips 19 are formedon those branches of the cutters which extend toward each other and areadapted to cut through straggling vines and the stems projecting fromthe plants to be left, so that the plants will be properly pruned andtheir development assured.

The blades are obviously simple in their construction so that they maybe manufactured at a slight cost and should any one blade be broken orotherwise injured it may be easily removed from the arm to which it isattached and a new blade substituted without requiring the substitutionof an entire set of blades.

1. A blade for cotton choppers comprising a shank having its outer endbifurcated, the

branches of the bifurcation being extended l in opposite directions fromthe shank to form cutting members and one of said members having aninwardly turned cutting lip at its end.

2. In a cotton chopper, the combination of a chopper shaft,blade-carrying arms secured thereon and disposed in pairs, and bladessecured to said arms and extending therefrom and disposed radially ofthe shaft and provided at their outer ends With oppositely extendingcutting members the cutting members on the opposed sides of the adjacentstenis being provided with inwardly turned cutting lips at their ends.1.5 In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of twoWitnesses.

C. M. CARLYLE, E. S. PELOT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. U.

